I Killed Bob
by latielking
Summary: "I can't believe it! I just can't believe it! I killed Bob," Harry said for the 10th time. He was standing in the cold rain next to the Blue Beetle parked in his parking space just outside his basement apartment.


I KILLED BOB

CHAPTER 1

"I can't believe it! I just can't believe it! I killed Bob," Harry said for the 10th time. He was standing in the cold rain next to the Blue Beetle parked in his parking space just outside his basement apartment. He was wearing a white wool robe with heavy wool socks and sandals. He was crying, tears running down his face mixing with the rain as it streamed down his hair and soaked him to the bone.

Lightning was flashing, and thunder was booming as the beginnings of a real strong storm washed in off of Lake Michigan. It was the end of October, Halloween was only five days away, and the weather was a little chilly which was the reason for the cold rain. They had predicted that this storm was ushering cold weather ahead of an early winter.

Harry stood there ignoring the rain and the cold trying to remember what had gone wrong and how he could have killed his best friend. Bob was like family, though he was like that weird perverted uncle that everybody knew about and wouldn't let their kids near. He isn't bad, as a spirit of intellect and knowledge he is unable to make moral differentiations between good and evil, as he simply dispenses information. He is also addicted to porn, any kind of porn: books, magazines, movies or the internet. Also, Bob isn't a person either, he is a spirit of intellect and knowledge who inhabits a skull to which he is bound.

Bob has no real gender per se, as he is an air spirit with no corporeal form. Although Bob has no physical features of his own, he is able to appear as a sort of orange smoke cloud of light.

When outside of his skull, Bob is susceptible to attack and will be harmed by sunlight. He can also possess living beings, as both a protection from daylight and to be less obvious than an orange cloud of lights.

Etienne the Enchanter, back in medieval France was burned at the stake during the Inquisition., is the one who originally laid out the enchantment on the skull that protects Bob from almost any harm but enables it to be a little home-away-from-home for Bob. He has been passed down, or stolen, wizard-to-wizard, ever since.

Bob is a massive repository of magical knowledge, into which wizards have been able to tap. It is believed that Bob was a Mini-Archive, much like Ivy. Also, like Ivy, once Bob has been exposed to an item or fact, he never forgets. Bob is not a wizard and cannot wield magic. He can only offer advice and no matter what decision is made on how to use it, he never judges.

As he stood there remembering what had led up to the accident, he replayed the events of the evening which started with Bob telling Harry that he could always use the spell to store up enough energy to shoot lightning at his enemies.

He wanted to find another way of increasing his magical power short of having to study and memorize hundreds of spells and then practice each of them until he had mastered them all.

He had been reviewing his books and manuals trying to find a way to store more energy or a more powerful incantation to use when he was fighting against beings of superior strength like those of the Order of the Blackened Denarius or any of the Outsiders.

He had been all through his apartment and down in his lab searching for the last 2 days leaving a path of destruction in his wake not unlike some of the building in Chicago. He was dropping things, knocking things over, slamming doors and lids, and mumbling to himself loud enough to be heard up in his living room. He would start reading something that he thought make work and then he would toss the book aside after finding nothing and wasting valuable time.

After reading through the last of his books, he slammed in on the table, knocking several other books onto the floor and let out a scream of frustration not unlike that of a wounded banshee. Which caused Bob to scream in surprise which jostled his skull sitting on the small shelf of the wall of the lab causing it to almost fall onto the concrete floor. He yelled, "Hell's bells, Harry what are you doing?"

Frustrated and tired, Harry replied, "I can't find any spells or incantations or enchantments that are powerful enough to use as a potent weapon against the Black Court or Nick and his gang."

"What are you looking for and please be more specific than "something strong enough to hurt them"," stated Bob.

Harry got up off the lab's cold hard floor and straightened his cramping legs and back before saying, "I'm not really sure but it has to be something powerful enough to knock them down and keep them down, at least for a while."

Bob rolled his eyes, which is not easy for a skull, and said, "since you have narrowed it down to only 1 possible item, finding it should be a snap." He would have snapped his fingers at that point, but he didn't have any or hands or arms … you get the picture.

Harry turned toward Bob and said, "Thanks for the great flow of knowledge, O' Wise One."

Bob replied, "Harry, you know that I need information about what you want so that I can reference my knowledge to find something close to what you want. Without a little detail of what you are hoping to accomplish, I can't even start to provide you with an answer." After saying all of that he then made a sound much like a big wet raspberry, "PLTTTTHPBT!"

"Oh, very mature Bob," replied Harry. "Fine, let me think for a second" and he sat in the chair at the table and didn't say anything for almost 2 minutes. Then he said, "I want a powerful force or wave that will not be deflected or simply pass over someone or something. I what it to be destructive and possibly deadly. I need it to be powerful but not something that will drain me to the point of passing out or incapacitate me so that I can't fight back or run away, if I need to."

He finished and then quickly added, "it also needs to be some way of storing enough energy on my person or some way to reach out and grab enough energy to use such a force."

Bob skull sat unmoving with no lights shining in the eye sockets for a couple of minutes before Harry said, "Bob, you still in there?"

Bob's eyes lit up and in the voice of an old lady he replied, "No, sorry there is nobody by that name in here." Then in his own angry voice he said, "Of course, I'm in here, where else would I be, you damn fool."

"Well, you didn't answer, and I thought that maybe you had gone to sleep on me", said Harry as Bob made a scoff sound. "Ok, fine, I'm sorry. Can we now get back to my request?"

After a few seconds of Bob making snoring sounds, he finally said, "There are one or two spells that may do what you are looking for. You could always use the spell to store up enough energy to shoot lightening at your enemies. That one will work best against the Blacks."

Harry looked at him few a second before saying, "Lightening, you know a spell that will allow me to throw real lightening like Odin?"

"Well, not exactly lightening like Odin uses," corrects Bob, "but more like light, extreme intense sun light to be correct."

Harry just sat there blinking at Bob for another second before asking, "You actually know how to throw sunlight and after all these years, you are just now getting around to telling me about it. Do you know how many times I have fought with the different vamp courts and could have used something like that?"

"Not exactly every time you have fought with them but yes I have a pretty good idea," said Bob.

"I can not believe you, Bob. Why would you not tell about this. Why would you keep this from me when you know damn good and well that I could have used it," asked Harry, "Why?"

Bob stated, "You never asked me."

Harry sat there stunned at what he had just heard. He could not believe that Bob had been hiding this from him all these years. He starts to wonder what else he could be keeping from him. He starts to simmer at Bob's answer until he remembers that even though Bob is a being of spirit, he is the epitome of maleness and as a man when asked a question he only tells you what you need to know and not necessarily what you want to know. Harry also remembers that Bob will never give more information than was asked for. The key word being "asked".

He sits thinking about all of that for a few minutes before saying, "You're right Bob, I never asked you for that type of info, so you never told me. I forgot for a minute." Then he added, "But in going forward from this point can you try to provide me with this type of information without me having to ask. Let's say it is your educated advice based on your vast knowledge and intellect."

After a second Bob replied, "I accept your apology and I agree to be more forthcoming with some of my vast knowledge in the future without waiting for you to ask, though I think this is simply because you don't know what you want or how to ask for it."

Harry started to reply but then stopped because he knew that all that would do is upset them both and cause Bob to stop talking until he was ready, and Harry didn't have time for that. Instead, he started cleaning up his mess getting ready to work on the spell that Bob had mentioned and also to give himself time to calm down. He picked up all of his books, papers and other research materials, putting them back on shelves and in boxes. Before sweeping up the broken glass and other things that had fallen to the floor. After about 20 minutes he had his lab back in good working order and he was ready to deal with Bob again.

Bob described the spell to Harry and told him that it was shooting a very narrow beam of highly charged electric particles in a straight line. He explained that with a lot of practice, Harry should be able to manipulate the width and shape of the beam to make it more effective. He should be able to move the beam in almost any direction to wave it across a large group or front of attacking enemy.

He then explained how the power of the electric particles would react just like a beam of sunlight. It would be intense as a directed laser beam and as hot as the sun itself. He said that it worked a lot like Soul Fire but the energy to power it was literally drawn from the surrounding sunlight and nature. He also explained the limitation of the spell. If it were at night or during an extremely overcast day or inside a dark closed off building, it wouldn't work for very long.

Harry thought about all of that then asked, "You said it draws energy from the surrounding sunlight and nature, does that mean it also draws power from living entities, like people?"

Bob answered, "Yes, it will draw any energy form there is around you, but it will not draw energy from the person casting the spell, the energy is draw into and through you but not from you. I do not know how far of a range it will use but it will draw on animals, plants and humans, alike. It will also draw energy from the enemy you are fighting against if they are close enough."

Harry didn't like that and asked, "How dangerous is it when it to those that it is drawing from?"

"The drawing is spread among everything around you and as those forms are depleted it adjusts to those remaining. It will continue to draw until all energy is depleted," Bob explained.

Harry with quiet for a while thinking about what he had just learned. Then he said, "It sounds almost as dangerous as the enemy I would intend on using it against."

"It is but there are ways of putting control limits into the spell so that you can control what is used as an energy source and to what level of energy is drawn from those sources," added Bob.

That last bit of info made Harry feel better about the idea of using this spell. So, he worked with Bob to get a list of the ingredients that would be needed to work this spell and headed out to buy them. It took all afternoon and late into the night for him to get everything that he needed. After getting everything categized and stored away Harry sat down with Bob and they went over the preparation steps and for setting up and putting the spell in play.

There were several ingredients that needed to be soaked or laid out to dry and a few others that needed to be mixed and let sit before they could be used. The preparations to start the spell would take 2 full days. So, after Harry had everything written down and all the ingredients mixed, soaking and drying he went to bed to get a good night's sleep. Bob said he was going to need the rest, so he could gain the proper focus. Besides, he was simply worn out.

The next day Harry went for an early morning jog and then spent a great deal of time working the cast iron over an anvil. He was swinging a large mallet and pounding the iron into the shape he wanted. After smiting the iron, he spent the afternoon and early evening welding a receiver cross and a grounding strap with a grounding rod driven into the floor. What Bob had called a receiver cross was actually a Leviathan's Cross which is the symbol for Alchemy sulfur/brimstone. It was like a cross of Lorraine with 3 bars; 1 long bar running vertical and 2 bars both shorter and not of the same length which cross horizontally. They are then attached to the center of a figure 8 laying on its side.

Alchemy sulfur/brimstone symbol or the Leviathan's cross

It is made out of cast iron and is only about 12-14 inches tall. It is used as a receiver or catcher of extremely destructive and powerful spells. It is attached to a triple strand copper grounding strap on one end and to a cast iron rod which is about 4 feet long and driven into the ground 3 feet. This allows the spell to be thrown and received by the cross and the energy transferred through the strap to the grounding rod and then into the ground, very much like simple electricity.

The welding and driving of the rod took all day and when night came Harry was so tired he didn't even get undressed before falling face first into his bed. He was so tired he slept hard and without dreaming.

CHAPTER 2

Early the next day harry woke up and headed straight for his shower. The water was ice cold, as he was rough on water heaters and most other electrical appliances, but it was great for waking someone up completely. He dried himself and dressed in a white wool robe and a pair of heavy white socks. No reason to be cold when warm was better.

He had hung the receiving cross at the far end of the lab and had run the copper strap down to the grounding rod first. He then laid out the different ingredients around his large circle he had built into the floor. He had a small bottle of ozone and a few shavings from Megingjard, the waist belt of Thor, several wildefae herbs and a few small bottles of a strong-smelling mixture of several ingredients that he couldn't pronounce. He laid these around the outer ring of his circle and the settled down inside the circle to start the spell.

He started by clearing his mind, slowly down his heartbeats by controlling his breathing and then he pictured calming places with waterfalls and field of waving long grasses. He was settling down into a very calm and focused mind. Once calm he started speaking the words of his incantation building up the energy and strength he needed to make it work. After spending almost an hour calling out the words of power he felt a surge run through him.

He stood and flexed his arms and legs, he could feel the warm energy flowing through his body from the rings and bracelets that he wore on each arm and finger. They were designed to pick up and hold energy from his everyday movements as he walked, moved his arms and since he had worn them yesterday while he had worked on the anvil they were stored with more energy then he had even worked with before.

He stood at the far end of the lab and raised his right arm, pointing it at the receiver cross and again repeating the words of the spell before saying _Hyacinthus Flammar, _which meant Blue Flame. Out from his closed fist shot a beam of the brightest white he had ever seen. It was so white it had a light blue tint to it and the force of the spell kicked back into his arm and should almost knocking him flat on his ass. It was so strong that it caused him to take 2 steps back to keep from falling over backwards.

The beam shot out of his fist and struck the receiving cross with such force that an audible snap sound was heard. Harry quickly pulled back on the force and shut it down but not before the receiving cross started to glow and then exploded into shrapnel that flew every direction. Several smaller pieces hit Harry just as he tried to pull his shield up to protect himself but couldn't because he was inside the circle. Almost all of them were stopped by the circle's barrier, but as the magical barrier fell apart a couple got through and struck him. As he was falling to the floor in pain he heard an extremely shrill scream and them an explosion from the side of the lab.

The lab looked like it had been hit by an artillery shell, at least 2 or 3 of them. Papers were everywhere, and books were scattered, tore apart and some were on fire. Smoke filled the lab, and everything was covered in a black ash. It looked literally like a war zone after an air raid. He quickly rolled to his side and stood up using the table as a support looking for the reason for the explosion. What he saw knocked him to his knees and took the breath right out of his lungs.

After a few seconds of just staring Harry screamed, "Bob, Bob, are you all right? Answer me Bob, Bob." But he didn't get an answer. He tried to stand using the table again, but it had been broken even more when he fell the last time. Harry crawled over to the wall where Bob's shelf had hung only to find it broken and hanging by one screw. Everything had fallen to the floor or scattered to the winds after the explosion.

Harry quickly looked around the floor and found Bob's skull off to the other side. He crawled over and grabbed the skull. When he turned it over he saw a huge crack down the middle of the face of the skull and in it was a piece of cast iron from the receiving cross. When the cross exploded this piece of shrapnel had struck the skull putting a gaping crack in the face from the top of the forehead down to the teeth.

Harry quickly worked the piece of iron out of the skull tossing it to the ground before examining the skull outer surface and the inside as best he could by looking through the crack. He asked, "Bob, are you in there. Answer me Bob. Tell me you are ok, please say something, Bob." But there was no sound, no lights and no smoke, anywhere.

Harry sat there holding Bob's skull and shaking all over. He didn't know what had happened and he didn't understand how the cast iron shrapnel had been able to damage the skull with all of the protective spells and wards that had been built into over the years. He didn't know what had happened to Bob. He just couldn't accept the fact that somehow Bob may have been killed in the explosion.

Harry started searching the floor looking for anything that might be Bob. He started working his way around the lab floor before trying to stand to check the shelves, table and counter tops but the smoke was to thick and he ended up having to crawl up out of the lab to get fresh air before he died of affixation. Once he had gotten out of the lab and onto the floor of his apartment, he was able to breath and shortly after he was able to stand. He staggered to the front door, dropped his wards and rushed outside into the cooler wet night air.

His apartment didn't have any fire alarms, because they would have been screeching at the top of their lungs. He left the big steel door wide open to let the smoke roll out of his apartment. He staggered over to his car and draped his body over it as he tried to clear his head. He couldn't believe what had happened. He wasn't even really sure of what had happened, but he knew without any doubt that he had killed Bob.

"I can't believe it! I just can't believe it! I killed Bob," Harry said for the 10th time. He was standing in the cold rain next to the Blue Beetle parked in his parking space just outside his basement apartment. He was wearing a white wool robe with heavy wool socks and sandals. He was crying, tears running down his face mixing with the rain as it streamed down his hair and soaked him to the bone.

Harry stood there ignoring the rain, the lightning and the cold trying to remember what had gone wrong and how he could have killed his best friend.

Mrs. Spunkelcrief is Harry's landlady. She lives on the first floor above Harry's apartment and she is half deaf, and. She came out along with the Willoughby's, who live on the second floor to see what all the noise was about. Harry told them that he had been using an old pressure cooker to make something for dinner and it had blown apart due to a bad seal. Mrs. Willoughby agreed with Harry that a bad seal could really cause damage and that he should be more careful when using a pressure cooker.

They looked pretty worried when they spotted a few fair-sized blood stains on Harry's robe. He explained that it was only spaghetti sauce from the pressure cooker and that he was not harmed or bleeding. After they seemed okay with the Harry, they all went back inside to their own apartments.

Harry quickly went back inside and closed up his apartment before heading to the bathroom for his first-aid kit. He washed and treated all the wounds that he could find with only one being of any major concern before heading back to the lab to see if by some chance Bob was still alive. He checked and found most of the smoke had dissipated before dropping down into the lab.

The lab really did look like a war zone and Harry was finding it really hard to believe that Bob could have survived the blast. He looked around and picked through most everything that could hold Bob's spirit and found nothing. After several times around the small lab, Harry started picking up the trash and damaged stuff. He started cleaning away the large broken pieces and the started sweeping the smaller pieces and the ash up and putting them in the trash cans.

It took him about 2 hours, but he had managed to get the lab cleaned up pretty good without causing himself more damage or more bleeding. He took all of the trash out to the dumpsters and then went into get a shower to clean all of the soot and stink of him. He was feeling terrible and all he wanted to do was get some sleep and forget about what happened to Bob until tomorrow.

He stood in his bedroom and stripped of his filthy robe and socks and headed into the bathroom. Before getting into the shower he stepped over to the toilet and raised the lid and heard, "Don't you dare piss on me after you tried to kill me down there damn you."

Harry screamed like a frightened little girl as he jumped back into his bedroom. He was still screaming softly as Bob started yelling and cussing him in several different languages that he was certain were no longer spoke on earth or anywhere else. He stuck his head in over the toilet bowl and asked, "Is that you Bob?"

"No, it's the fucking Tidy Bowl man in little fucking boat, of course it is me. What a stupid question," Bob yelled. "Don't flush the toilet and get me the hell out of here, now!"

Harry grabbed a pair of boxers and jumped down into the lab. He quickly grabbed Bob's skull and a roll of duct tape. He quickly ran a couple strips of duct tape over the crack in the skull and then headed back upstairs to get Bob. He stepped into the bathroom holding the skull out toward Bob who floated out of the toilet and into the broken skull. After Bob was resettled in his skull Harry started to shake uncontrollably almost dropping the skull. He quickly grabbed his bathrobe and headed into the living room to sit down and talk to Bob about what had happened.

Harry sat on the couch and placed Bob was on the coffee table. Harry concentrated on his breathing and worked at slowing down his heartrate. Soon he was calmed enough to talk and when he asked Bob if he was alright, Bob replied that he was not in a very tired sounding voice. Harry started asking several questions, not waiting for Bob's reply until finally Bob said that he was very tired and needed to rest before they talked any more and then the light in his eye sockets went out.

It was almost 36 hours before Bob woke up and was able to talk to Harry. He first told harry what had happened in the lab. He said, "From what I could see, you drew too much power for the receiver cross. It had overloaded along with the grounding rod and then exploded. When it exploded the cross broke into small shrapnel and shot out in every direction. One piece hit my skull causing a small explosion and completely knocking out all the magical wards. Extremely intense sunlight lit up the inside of the skull."

Bob seemed to take a breather before continuing with, "After that I slid out of my skull and headed for your bedroom before anything else happened, but I wasn't that's enough. The explosive wave hit your circle and created another explosion that threw me out of the lab and into the bathroom. When I hit the open lid and dropped into the toilet bowl the lid slammed down on top of me trapping me until you found me."

Harry listened carefully to everything Bob told him before asking any questions. The first question was, "How did a piece of shrapnel break through your protective wards and damage the skull?"

Bob almost sounded like he was breathing a little heavy as he answered, "The same reason that the cross overloaded, they were supercharged with magic energy. When it exploded it shot straight through my wards and protective layers like they weren't there. That was what also hit your circle barrier and shattered it. It was a hell of an explosion."

Harry took that all in and said, "Well, that explains a great deal. I would really like to try the whole thing again, but I think it would be best to go out of town to one of the large gravel pits where I don't have to worry about blowing up the house."

Bob agreed that would be the best thing to do. The Harry said, "I'm just glad that neither one of us got hurt too bad and I'm going to have to get you a new house, quick."

Bob didn't reply right away which caught Harry's attention, so he asked, "You are alright, aren't you Bob? You seem like your out of breath."

For a second Bob didn't reply, then he said, "No Harry, I'm not ok. The explosion of the magically charged cast iron and my protective wards disrupted my magical cohesion along with a strong blast of sunlight from the cross before it exploded, is causing my essence to slowly dissolve."

"Dissolve, what do you mean dissolve? What is happening to you," asked Harry?

It took Bob a few seconds to answer and when he did he spoke slowly saying, "I am dying Harry. I am slowly dissolving away and soon there will be nothing left of me."

Harry stood up and started walking back and forth across the small living room while he spoke, "That is crazy Bob, you can't die. Tell me what spells I need to cast to fix up a new skull and you will be fine, right?"

Bob took a few seconds to answer with, "No Harry, there is nothing you can do to stop my death." After another short pause, Bob continued, "Harry I have lived a good life, some would say it was even great. I have lived for almost 2,000 years which is longer than almost every living being except some Dragons, and that's only because they are the next thing to being immortal."

He took another pause and said, "It has been my greatest honor to serve you Harry and to call you my friend. But everything has a limit, and this seems to be mine." He was quiet for a little while before his eye sockets went dark.

Harry was in shock at hearing what Bob had just told him. He couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it. There had to be someway of fixing him. He sat down and looked at Bob for a minute before speaking, "Bob, how long are you talking about. How much time have we got?"

Bob's eyes lit up a little softer than usual and he said, "I am not sure, a couple days but not much more. Harry, I need to rest a little if you don't mind." With that, he went quiet and the lights went out completely.

Harry was going crazy because he had no idea what to do. He thought that of he had Bob's knowledge he could probably come up with some idea that would fix the situation, but he simply had no idea what he was dealing with or how he could fix it. Besides, even if he did know what to do, he knew that he wasn't strong enough to do anything anyway. He spent the rest of that day and all of the next thinking and trying to figure out what could possibly be done to help Bob.

Harry spoke a couple times to Bob, but he seemed to be losing his strength and ability to talk a little at a time. Harry didn't sleep except in short naps no longer than an hour at the most. He was in the middle of a cat nap when he sat straight up. He suddenly had an idea and he needed to talk to his Godmother first. His only concern was whether or not she could do what he had in mind.

Chapter 3

Harry hurried outside and around to the back of his building where the trees and bushes were thick and full of color, making ready to the upcoming change of the seasons. He stood in the center of the little clearing and calmed himself, thinking of the last time he had seen his Godmother. He then spoke out loud three times saying, "Godmother, I ask that you come to me." He then stood there, waiting. He didn't know if she would come to him. He had not used her actual name and he did not demand that she appear, he thought it best to ask her to come to him as his Godmother. So, he stood there waiting.

After a few minutes a breeze started to move the fallen leave around in soft circles and then suddenly there was a swirl of color and chilled air. There almost floating in the middle of the little clearing stood the Leanansidhe in all her beauty. She wore a white gown trimmed in frost blue. She had a beautiful small tiara on her head and she looked regal.

She turned her eyes slightly towards Harry and said, "I am here Godson. I like that you asked if I would come to you rather then demanding. It is it should be between family, don't you think." Then she asked, "Why have you asked me here, Godson?"

Harry was always captivated by her beauty and also a little leery when dealing with any of the sidhe especially his Godmother, but this was important, and he had no other choice. He greeted her and then explained a little about the spell he had been working on and how the accident happened. He then asked if she could help. He told her that he had no idea what to do or even if he was able to do anything.

She smiled and said, "There is nothing that you are any other mortal wizard could the air spirit had been created a long time ago by a long gone magical being. Truth be told there is nothing that I or even the Queen herself could do to fix the problems and save the life of the air spirit."

Harry dropped to the ground at her feet upon hearing this and almost started crying. He was completely heart-broken to know that there was nothing that could be done to save Bob. He just couldn't believe that there was nothing that could be done.

His Godmother leaned down and looked him in the face. She looked at him for a short time before saying, "I know of no way to save his life but I do know of a way to save all of his knowledge, experiences and intelligence but it would require a small sacrifice on Harry's part."

Harry stood up and looked at her asking, "What do you mean by saving his knowledge? Do you mean like downloading a computer or something?"

Lea stood up and laughed before looking back at him saying, "Yes, I guess it would be something like that."

Harry thought about that and asked her, "Are you positive that there is nothing that can be done to save Bob's life, nothing at all?"

She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I honestly know of no way of saving the life of the air spirit that you call Bob. This I swear on my power to be true."

Knowing that Lea could not tell a lie and by swearing on her power he knew it to be true, so he asked, "What do you have in mind that will save Bob's knowledge?"

"You're going to do what," Harry asked rather loudly? "No, no, no, I don't think so. Being changed into a dog and a human popsicle is one thing but a free-floating bodiless entity of smoke and light is something else completely."

Lea smiled and said, "It is the only way to truly join your souls together, my godson. It will not hurt, and it will not take very long. I did tell you that there would be a small sacrifice on your part, did I not?"

Harry looked right at her and said, "Well, yes you did but I figured you meant that I would have to be some creature or animal slave of yours for a couple weeks, I did not know you were going to completely dissolve me into smoke."

Lea stood there with an other than pleased look on her face but smiled and replied, "Turning you into Centaur or Satyr for a couple months would be a delight, but if you want to help your air spirit and save his knowledge and inner soul, you will need to merge together at the most basic level and since he is already a entity of smoke then that is what you will become."

"I don't know about this, what if something goes wrong? How could you correct it? It's not so much that I am doubting your abilities, it's just very delicate work and honestly it scares me a little," claimed Harry.

Lea smile big and looked deep into his eyes saying, "Dearest godson, I would no more take a chance of permanently damaging or losing you that I would my own child, if I had one. But remember, you called upon me to offer to help, which I am doing. With no strings attached, simply because you are in need and are suffering a great pending loss."

Harry could not believe how caring and almost loving his godmother was being. He really wanted to give in and believe her with all his heart, but he was scared of what she might do to him or require of him at a later time for this favor. He looked her deep in her eyes, normally he would not for fear of a soul gaze but the had already soul gazed her years ago and he still shivered at the thought, and said, "Godmother, I know that you have promised my mother that you would look after me and try to protect me, as best you can and I know in your own way that you truly seem to care for me almost like your own son and for that I thank you from deep in my heart. This task that I ask your help with is very important to me because Bob is my friend and my confidant and losing him would truly tear a hole in my heart. I trust you to do what you say you will do, and I thank you with honest love and affection."

Lea stood statue still for almost 2 minutes and wiped a small tear from her cheek before speaking and when she did there was a slight crack to her voice that Harry had never heard before, "My wonderful wild godson, thank you for you words and affection. It is true that I promised your mother and I have tried, as best I can, to help and protect you. This is a brave and selfless act that you are asking for and I will make sure you come through it unharmed but do know that it may change you in ways I cannot see."

Harry asked, "What type of changes are you talking about?"

"Most changes will be subtle, and some will not be noticed. You may start to like different colors or activities. These will be a combination or mix of the air spirit and your own likes and dislikes. He may like something that you currently don't but after the merging you may like it more than before. There is no real way to know until after but know that it will not be life threatening but it could be life changing" Lea assured him.

Harry suddenly thought about Bob's preoccupation with sex and porn and thought that if that was the worst he had to face then he could handle it. He said, "Okay, godmother lets do this" What do you need and what can I do?"

She smiled and said, "Nothing at all my dear, retrieve the air spirit and we will step into the Nevernever and save what we can of your friend."

They arrived in a fairly large pagoda of ice that Harry had never seen before. It sat along the top of a large hill overlooking a beautiful valley with a flowing stream at the floor. There were flowers of every color, size and shape that covered the valley and hillside stopping short of the area right around the pagoda. There was a small table next to a large daybed. His godmother had him set the skull on the small table and instructed him to lie down on the bed.

Sometime during their travels to this pagoda, Lea had changed clothes. She looked absolutely stunning. She now wore a beautiful light lavender gown that was tight in all the right places and seemed to swim across her body as she walked. It had a very deep neckline that cut down the front and was covered with snowflake lace and revealing a lot of creamy white cleavage. The entire outer trim was the same snow flake style lace. The sides were as cut quite high showing a long beautiful leg clear up upon her thighs. Lea smiled when she spotted harry looking at her and said, "Now godson, do remember that I am your godmother."

Harry quickly turned his eyes away and turned a deep shade of red that started down below his collar and grew up into his hair. He started to say something but was too embarrassed. She just smiles and said, "But thanks for noticing."

She stepped to the head of the bed between it and the table and placed her hands gently on each and started to murmur and a soft low tone. Energy instantly started to flow through Harry's body first making his muscles jump and flex as if shocked by electricity. He slowly started to feel light and sleepy and soon slipped off into a deep sleep. Harry felt like he was awake and floating it a hazy light fog but had no real sense of touch to what was around him. Very slowly he became aware of color and light but there was still the light haziness, but the fog seemed to thin a bit.

He noticed a floating smoke cloud with orange lights next to him and recognized it as Bob and then realized that he was also a cloud of smoke. He was free-floating above the bed facing Bob. He tried to speak but didn't know how. Then he turned a little to his right and saw his godmother standing not far from him. She was not the beautiful glamorous woman that he had always seen but that of a very hideous alien like being. It was a female but unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. He wondered if this was his Wizard Sight that he was looking through or if this was the way Bob saw beings.

He then felt being moved toward Bob and realized that Lea was starting the joining. He barely felt anything as his smoke cloud started to mix with Bob's. soon they were one slightly larger smoke cloud and he could feel the presence of something as it was creeping into and over his brain. Then he felt more than heard Bob ask, "What the hell is happening? Who is there?" he kept asking questions and soon Harry figured out how to speak to him.

"Bob, it's me Harry. I am a smoke cloud like you. Don't worry no one is going to hurt you, I am trying to save you are at least some part of you so relax a little and it will be over quickly."

"Harry, oh thank the stars. I had no idea what was happening. One minute I'm dozing off probably for the last time and then pow, here I am floating in the sky and feeling something creep over me. Why did you give me some kind of warning to let me know what was going on? You scared the shit out of me."

Harry smiled to himself just glad to hear Bob's voice, "We tried several times, but you weren't replying. I thought that you may have already faded away."

"Bob said, "Oh, sorry about that. who is with you?"

"I asked my godmother if she could help save your life," said Harry.

"What, you called the Leanansidhe to help, she knows about me? Oh Harry, you shouldn't have done that, it may have better to just let me fade away," stated Bob.

Harry was shocked and said, "What are you talking about. Bob you are mt friend and I would do anything to save you. I had no idea how to help you and I knew that I wasn't strong enough to help even if I did find a way, so I called her and she came to help."

"So, what is she doing to me, or should I say us? Really, what is she doing with you," Bob asked?

"It's kind of difficult to explain but Lea examined you and found out that you were created using a very old and very powerful magic. Basically no one has used that type in over a thousand years. She explained basically what she knew and told me that neither she or the Queen could perform that level of magic. There is no one alive any more that knows anything about this type of magic," said Harry.

Bob asked, "If she can't fix me because she doesn't know the magic, what is she doing and why are you a smoke entity?"

Harry let out a small sigh and said, "I told her that you were one of the greatest sources of magical knowledge and intellect and the loss to the world was just to great. She then told me of a way to save all of your knowledge and conciseness by downloading it into someone else. That way a part of you will live on. I know that it isn't the greatest thing but keeping any part of you is better than losing you completely, my friend."

Bob didn't speak for a few minutes and Harry thought he heard a sniffle before bob finally said, "Harry, you are the greatest friend a person could ever have, thank you." They couldn't hug or touch because they were just smoke, but Harry could feel the warm an affection radiating from bob.

Suddenly they could feel a shaking with heat and pressure building up. Harry said, "Hold on Bob, something is happening." There was a stirring feeling like someone had a big spoon and was slowly stirring the cake batter. As the pressure continued to build Harry felt a strangle felling like he was coming apart but being squished back together, at the same time. Harry felt a downward pull and then he just faded out.

"Wake up Harry, wake up."

The fog was still there but slowly parting, and the free-floating feeling was gone.

"Wake up Harry, wake up."

This time he definitely heard someone calling to him. He was still very groggy and had the feeling that he had been drugged. Opened his eyes and the light seemed se bright but the fog was gone. Then he realized that he was once again laying on the daybed. He lay there slowly getting the feeling back into his legs, feet, arms and fingers, like they had been asleep for a while.

"There you are, sleepy head. I was wondering when you would wake up," said Lea with a big beautiful smile.

Harry flinched at seeing her, remembering what he had seen when in the smoke cloud but then he relaxed as he realized that he needed to talk to Bob to find out what had happened and why he had seen the hideous beast that was his godmother.

"Oh, I hope I didn't scare you. Are you all awake now? Can you sit up," she asked? With that she leant harry her arm and he slowly stood up and stepped away from the bed. "There now, how do you feel?"

Harry stood still for a couple seconds, then stretched a little before taking a couple steps around the bed and then around the pagoda. He felt different, like he was bigger or heavier than before. It took a few minutes to work past the extra feeling but then everything started to smooth out and feel normal, again. He then said, "I feel fine, thank you." After a little more stretching and opening and closing his fists he asked, "Where's Bob? Did it work? What happened?"

Lea smiled and replied, "Oh my, so many questions, always asking questions. Did you know that asking questions is a true sign of intelligence? Well it is because it proves that you are always thinking and wondering about things you may not know about." She smiled so big and bight it was radiating warmth like the sun and Harry could actually feel it on his skin. It made him shiver.

"Well, as for the air spirit," she started, "It is no longer with us as you knew it. His entire knowledge and intellect has been transferred to your mind. Basically, you are the new Bob, in that sense. It is all in your mind and for a short time you will have his consciousness to converse with."

"Really, he will be able to speak to me and we can talk to each other? That's great," Harry said. "How long of a time are you talking?"

"The air spirit should start to fade away as your mind adjusts more comfortably to all the knowledge that you have been given," she said. "also, you need to be aware that you now have a great amount of magical knowledge, intelligence and historical experience. As you once would have asked the air spirit for information or explanation, now you will instantly have that and much more. You have centuries of magic spells, enchantments and positions at your beck and call. Now all you have to do it think about it and you know it."

Harry thought about this for a second and asked, "So are you saying that I will have a powerful knowledge to help my magic? Will this make me a stronger wizard?"

Lea laughed at Harry as if he had just told her a funny joke, "You are not grasping the correct idea. Think of it this way, you know that The Original merlin was the most powerful wizard in history, right? Well the air spirit was like a mini-archive, much like the one you call Ivy, except all its knowledge pertains strictly to magic. It has all of Merlin's knowledge as well as that of every other powerful wizard in history. You will have all that knowledge to build your magic. You may now be the most powerful wizard in history."

Harry didn't know what to say. He knew that Bob had the magical knowledge of thousands of the strongest wizards in all of history, but he never realized that he would gain that type of power after the download of Bob's mind. He looked at lea and asked, "Is that the reason I feel so awkward like I am bigger or something?"

Again, Lea gave a small laugh before answering, "Yes, godson that is one of the reasons. As I told you there would be some changes, for example: your head has enlarged at least one hat size to accommodate all the new brains you are going to use. Your body has increased in mass, approximately 50 pounds, in your shoulders, back and chest muscles, your waist has slimmed down a little and your hips and legs are larger. These are all due to the extra muscle you are going to need to accommodate your new abilities."

Harry stood there looking at his body, moving his legs and arms, feeling his thighs and butt checking to see if they were different. They didn't seem any different he did remember when he first woke up he did feel awkward and over-sized. It was then that he realized that he wasn't wearing his boots. He looked at his godmother and then went over and started pulling on his boots. He couldn't because they were too tight.

Lea said, "They will not fit you because they are too small. Your feet have grown almost 2 shoe sizes. Your clothes were also too tight, so I adjusted them to fit you as before." She then waved her hand toward his boots and duster and they jumped a little before settling back where they lay. Harry again tried his boot and this time it slid on as usual, no problem. "You have not grown any taller and I don't think you will, but you might want to keep that thought in the back of your mind," she said.

Harry had grabbed his duster and swung it around his shoulders happy to feel the comfortable weight of it and realized that it felt a little lighter than usual. He turned and asked, "will I be able to see Bob, or will I only hear him."

Lea said, "You will only be able to converse. He is not a ghost and he is no longer a spirit. He is currently a persistent thought or memory that will fade after a time. You should be aware that because of the body growth and increases, you will experience pain, cramps and headaches for a time. They will subside, but they will be of some pain. I would suggest that you take some time to practice with your new body and magic powers. You need to relearn how to use them now that they are all bigger and simply more."

As Harry stood there examining his body, his godmother floated across the room and kissed him on the top of his head, like a parent would their child, "Please be careful Harry because no matter how big and powerful one is there is always something else that is bigger and more powerful out there. Thank you for a wonderful and very interesting day. I will not hold you to a favor but if you should feel like doing something for me, I would be grateful. Good-bye godson." And with that, she blinked out and was gone.

Suddenly a Way opened on the opposite side of the pagoda and Harry hurriedly stepped through it back into the small clearing behind his building. It was dark and a little chilly compared to the Nevernever, but it was good to be back home. As Harry walked down the steps to his front door, he heard a soft voice say "Harry, are you there?"

Harry stopped for a second and then realized that it was Bob talking to him. He replied, "Yes Bob, its me. Are you ok?"

Sounding a little stronger, Bob said, "Yeah, its me. I'm guessing that I am inside your mind. I have to tell you this feels strange."

Harry smiled as dropped his wards protecting his home and pushed open the door to instantly be hit broadside by his other roommate, the 35-pound miniature mountain lion, his cat Mister, who instantly went to his dish as if to point out that it was empty and he was not pleased about it. So, after closing the door and replacing his wards, he went over and got down the food to fill Mister's food bowl and he filed Mouse's bowl while he was at it. Calling Mouse's food dish a bowl was like calling the Queen Mary a summer yacht. It was huge and hold at least 15-pounds of food.

Upon hearing food being cast into the giant bowl, Mouse raised his shaggy head from the other side of the couch and the started to wag his huge tail. I think he uses the tails momentum to power the rest of his body so that he can lift off the ground. Mouse is Harry's 140-pound giant furry mountain. He had been hired to recover a litter of Temple dog puppies and return them to a mysterious client. He found and return the puppies but discovered later that day that one had stowed away in his car, he tried but could not find or contact the client, so he just kept the puppies since it was so small and cute. It didn't take long to discover that Temple dogs are not a small and cute breed of dog.

With the roommates fed and watered, Harry grabbed a Coke out of the fridge, opened it and took a drink as he headed for the bedroom. The entire time he was talking and listening to Bob. He asked, "Why are you having such a difficult time with being in my body? You have possessed hundreds of people in the past, you should be used to being in someone else's body by now."

"Yes, that is true," said Bob, "but this is not like being in someone else's body. This is like being in my own body, a real physical body."

Harry looked in the mirror and said, "What do you mean, you did have a body and didn't have anything physical to touch.?"

Bob said, "I know but when you move your arm, it feels exactly like I'm moving my arm. When you touch something cold my hand gets cold. This is more than possession or simply being in someone else's body I am in my body."

Harry asked, "How is that possible?"

Bob said, "When we were joined, we actually became one. This is our body, yours and mine, together. I don't know how long it will last but for now we are one."

Suddenly, Mouse raised up from his spot on the floor with the hair on his back standing on end and he was emitting a low yet very dangerous growling sound while facing the door. Harry quickly went to the door and looked out the peep-hole and then out the smaller side windows on either side of the door, but he didn't see anything. He turned back to Mouse and asked, "Are they still out there boy?" Mouse didn't move just let out another low growl. Harry took that as a yes.

He dropped his wards and eased to door open as best he could and leaned out the door to look around. Again, he saw mothing. He stepped out of the door and started slowly up the steps when a huge nasty smelly, puss dripping Black Court vampire dropped to the ground right in front of him. It stood up and snared at him as it took a step forward. Without thinking, Harry took a step back, raised his right arm, closed his fist and said, "_Hyacinthus Flammar"._

Abeam of sunlight shot forward from Harry's raised fist and slammed into the nasty vampire. It happened so quickly that the vampire didn't have time to get out of the way and was instantly engulfed in the sunlight beam. It burst into flames that were so intense that Harry had to drop his arm and step back to the rear of his little stairway. The vampire let out a single high-pitched shriek then nothing more. The flames quickly shot up and then slowly started to settle back down before the vampire's body collapsed in a small heap and the burn until there was almost nothing left.

Harry stood there looking at the flames as they died away and heard Bob say, "Well, I guess that works, doesn't it?"

Harry went back in the house and locked it all up before heading to his bed talking about what had just happened and realizing that he had already started connecting to the information he had gained from Bob. They talk for a while about how to use it, how to increase Harry's magic and several other topics before Harry said it was time to go to sleep. As he was getting ready for bed, Bob asked, "Since I am now basically a physical being and can feel, touch and be touched, what do you same to a quick stop at a few bars I know of over near the college. You know to celebrate, what do you say Harry?"

Without a second to think about it, Harry said, "No Bob, I don't think so, good night."

Bob replied, "but you didn't even take a minute to think about it Harry. Come on, you know that it has been almost 2000 years since I last touched another human and this could really be fun. What do you say?'

Harry instantly said, "No Bob, good night." He knew that Bob wasn't going to give up and would be a long time before he would be able to fall asleep, but it seemed worth it to still have Bob around. Well, almost worth it."

"Come on Harry, just think about it."

20


End file.
